Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1481: Conquest

Diana studied the man known as Conquest. He wore a full-body armor, hiding his face and skin. The armor shone with brilliant light as if a mirror reflecting the sun. It had intricate and faint symbols floating across the armor’s reflective surface, each moving like the stars in the night.

The man was the first among the horsemen to actually ride a horse. Arthur had once told her about Ellen, the Horseman of Death, who was his friend that sent him to Alka in hopes of saving her mother. Invidia was also possessed by Famine, which explained his ability to devour souls and the vitality that the world had. None of them rode a horse.

Diana was also taken aback by the stunning horse. It was white without a single blemish. Its long mane cascaded down its neck, ending where Conquest placed his armored hand.

She expected the horse to have wings, or horns, or anything to tell her that this wasn’t an ordinary one. However, she was disappointed to see it was a regular horse except for the fact it shone bright and could step on air.

Conquest descended from the portal under the awestruck crowd. Humans, and any other sentient creatures, could tell when something looked evil.

For example, Invidia in his current and previous form, was the embodiment of everything wrong in the world. But this horseman looked more like a savior than anything else.

"What are you doing here?" Invidia asked, breaking the silence, with a tone that told the rest that Conquest shouldn’t have been the one to be here.

The horseman ignored his question as he descended through the air and landed amidst the wreck. As his horse’s hoof touched the ground, it elicited a reaction from the world itself.

A wave of colors exploded from the spot that Conquest landed in, and burst out to cover the dim gray world. Flames were snuffed out, and weapons fell from their owners’ hands.

"I summoned the Nameless, not you!" Invidia shouted.

"Silence," a voice answered from within the armor. It was low and cosmic, commanding authority over the world around it.

Invidia began to object, but his words seemed to collapse in his throat, and he began coughing. As he struggled to breathe, Conquest turned his head toward the rest.

The horseman looked at the spirits and undead, at Ozyrae in the distance, at the elves surrounding the wreckage, at Diana, and then landed on Arthur.

A few moments passed as the two looked at each other.

Conquest was the one to begin. "How do you prefer to be addressed? You have many names, it seems. Creator. Outsider. King of Wrath. Seika. The list is infinite, if you count what the other worlds call you."

"Arthur Netherborne," Arthur replied.

"Arthur Netherborne," Conquest repeated. "We have never met."

Arthur didn’t answer.

"This entire endeavor by my comrade has been... unplanned for," Conquest said, his voice still low and clinical, but without the authority it once had. "I would consider it a personal favor if you are willing to let this go."

"I don’t need favors."

"I expected as such," Conquest said. "The Kingdom of Gods no longer wishes to fight against you. Instead, they sent me here to invite you into their realm—a chance to reconcile and create a better future for the lower realms."

Arthur let out a low, rumbling laugh. It seemed to grind against their ears, as if filtered out by the mask, from something that could tear apart their souls.

"You expect us to reconcile?"

"I’m nothing but a messenger," Conquest said. Then, he reached into his satchel and took out a small scroll.

The item glowed with golden light as it hovered above his hand. Conquest gave it a little nudge, and it flew toward Arthur and hovered in front of him. Arthur didn’t reach out.

"The invite shall include the time and place for your meeting with the gods," Conquest said. "It will be in a place that no party could harm the other."

"Is that to reassure me, or to protect yourselves?"

This time, Conquest let out a chuckle. Then, he turned toward Invidia who could barely breathe. The small horseman looked like an ant compared to the giant figure of Famine, but the latter was shivering in fear.

"This ends here," Conquest addressed Invidia. "Go through the portal."

"That’s not happening," Arthur said. "Invidia, or Famine, is mine."

Conquest paused.

And then, he sighed.

"Is there no other way?"

"You can kill me and leave."

Conquest was silent for a short second. Then, he raised his hand. Diana flinched and prepared to cast her ice to protect them. Arthur raised a hand to stop her.

Bright light gathered on the horseman’s hand. It seared through the world, melting the metal of the ship around them. A strange gravitational force gathered, pulling everything toward the flame covering the man’s hand.

Conquest waved his hand. Light erupted, destroying everything in its path. The ground vaporized and the air escaped as the light shot from his hand. Its target, however, was not Arthur.

Invidia screamed as the entire creature was set aflame. White flames devoured the creature, who collapsed to the ground in agony. Its howling voice shattered the mountains and the ground beneath them, before it ceased.

A single corpse fell from the burning giant.

It collapsed in front of Arthur.

Diana looked down, to see the corpse of Invidia.

She couldn’t understand what was happening.

Conquest began rising to the sky once more.

"Until we meet again, Arthur Netherborne."

The man flew toward the sky before he disappeared into the portal.

At the same time, cracks spread throughout the realm. Space began to shatter before their eyes, as large chunks of the ground fell into the abyss.

Once its owner perished, the entire realm began to fall apart.

"We need to leave," Arthur said. "Call for the witch."

Diana couldn’t understand.

Chaos ensued as everyone began fleeing the collapsing realm.

Ozyrae landed in the space next to them.

"We have no way out," she said. "Gala said that the portal needs at least half a day to connect to the Spirits Realm again. Unless we find a way to stabilize this place, we’re all falling toward the abyss."

Arthur was silent.

Diana wanted to suggest something, but she knew Arthur wouldn’t agree. Then, from beyond the mountains, light shone and pierced through the sky. A golden pillar of light emerged into the world.

Everyone turned their attention toward the light.

From the distant mountains, two figures flew toward them.

It was Tiara and a man Diana couldn’t recognize.

Everyone emerged from the other side of the portal. Vorathis had a spell that allowed him to store the undead monsters in a separate dimension, which allowed them to flee the realm before it collapsed.

Diana landed on the ground and looked around them. They were above the clouds, with one sun and two moons above them. She looked around at the party who had saved them.

"Thank you, Tiara," she said to the nearby elf, who nodded at her with a somber look. Diana understood that she didn’t take the news of Malrik’s death too well.

The other man was now a green figure with leaves floating around him. Another spiritual figure, which was a mixture of golden and black, was also standing here when they arrived to the Spirits Realm.

"That was the perfect timing," Gala said. Her appearance now looked like floating orbs of different colors. A few creatures, as small as a finger, floated around her. They were her spirits.

As everyone was recovering from the effects of the portal, Arthur collapsed to the ground. The bone mask he wore cracked and began disintegrating. He let out a grunt that made Diana rush toward him.

"I’m fine," Arthur said. His golden figure was covered in black lightning that he seemed to be suppressing.

Diana was worried, but the woman who came with Arthur gestured for her to step back. She looked like a cutout black outline that was filled with shimmering lights.

After a few seconds, Arthur recovered.

Everyone looked at him.

He took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Ali, Tiara, Lusica," he said as he tried to rise. "I didn’t think that we would need our asses saved by you, but I’m very glad that you rose up for the occasion."

"Next time, send us a letter before running to the final battle," Tiara said with a laugh. "But really, that wasn’t proper."

"We were late," Ali said, as if defending Arthur. "He began at a higher level than us in the Path. It makes sense that he would rush to fight against Invidia without us."

"How did you know where to find us?" Gala asked.

"Master Guffaw told us about the knight that came looking for you, and we connected the dots. We worked with him to create a portal to the stolen realm once we reached the Skyey layer," Ali explained.

"You reached it?" Arthur asked in surprise before looking around.

"It was one of the perks of defeating the Sovereign Path," Lusica said from the side. "In any case... I’m glad that everyone is safe."

"Not everyone," Tiara said. She turned to Arthur. "How did he die?"

"Fighting for what he believed in," Arthur said. "He died smiling."